Old Soul, Young Heart

I'm going to be totally candid. I'm in a weird spot right now in regards to all of this wedding planning. On the one hand, I don't want to think and talk about it all the time because who can even do that? I, of course, (sort of) have other things going on in my life... though not a lot right now. I could basically drive myself crazy thinking about it because there are so many options, things to consider, and websites to browse. I also don't want to be "that bride" who only has wedding on the brain at all times and all topics inevitably lead back to the wedding. (I'm not really sure if those types of brides exist, but I imagine they do and I don't want to be one of them.) On the other hand, though, I do want to think and talk about it all the time because it's an exciting, once-in-a-lifetime event. I both do and don't want to talk about it (bring it up or even discuss it at length when asked) because it's fun to talk about your plans, b

Something feels not quite right and I have no idea what it is. I hate that feeling...

Finally. We finally have a date. I'm so relieved and happy that we can move on from this. When I opened the letter from the chaplain at Wesleyan and saw September 22, 2012 at 3:30 pm (even in bold like that), I looked at it for a moment and imagined how nervous I'm going to be and thought about how it's actually happening now. Yay! This week during my lunch break I've spent a lot of time calling and emailing different reception places in town. Holiday Inn and Suites near the airport, Doubletree, and The Chateau are all booked for that date. I do have a viewing of Parke Hotel and Conference Center scheduled on the 28th and I'm emailing back and forth with Eastland Suites to see if they have our date open. It's actually kind of nice that these places are booked, just because it makes for less options and, therefore, less decisions to make. I think we'd be happy to have it at Parke, but I still want to see it in person again and talk to the catering manager.

I love The Pioneer Woman . I wish I was The Pioneer Woman. I truly do have aspirations of being super domestic and creative someday, but I think deep down I am just a lazy, boring person. I blame it on not having the appropriate space and tools, but we'll see if I feel and behave differently once we move in together and get into the married life routine. On a seemingly unrelated note, I am over purchasing books to read. Although I think it would be fun to have a living room filled with books and bookshelves, it honestly feels like a waste of money and space to me. I only get around to reading a book for a second or third time unless I really love it; all of the rest of them just sit there gathering dust until I feel like they aren't cool anymore and then I give them to Goodwill. So... I'm done buying books unless I read it once and just really need to have it at my disposal at all times. Enter the I-Share catalog and Heartland Community College's library. I'v

I just got this nail polish today in the mail from Amazon that I discovered on Pinterest and I lovelovelove it! It is the perfect purple color. It's a "smoky violet" and is exactly the hue that I want for our wedding. (It's called "Parlez-Vous" by OPI.) I know I won't be able to find that, though.  Originally I had thought we'd do blue... there are two colors (Marine and Peacock) that I like at David's Bridal and I think it would be very elegant. Blue has been done, but I haven't been to a wedding with a really rich, dark blue color and so I thought it might be something different that people haven't seen. It's appropriate for the month (September) and I think it would be pretty. I'm kind of changing my mind, though. Purple has been my favorite color for years. Though I think purple has seen its day lately at weddings, I still might do it if I can find a shade that's not the same as what I've seen. You know me.

I kind of feel like students should submit some kind of personal statement of accountability before they're granted financial aid. There are so many students that come in here and withdraw from or fail their classes and the government has paid for it all. I understand sometimes there are extenuating circumstances, but I just saw this student who I would like to call a "Bad Attitude Bobby" who has to get a loan for school because the government wouldn't give him a grant. I am happy about it because he will probably withdraw from his classes anyway or just fail them. This is so frustrating to me because right after that I saw a student who just wants to take a course to get certified as a CNA so that she can get a (low-paying) nursing assistant job. Financial aid doesn't cover our CNA course. It's so sad because now she can't do this course and, subsequently, get a job because the government is paying for Bad Attitude Bobby instead. Grr...

Okay, I am so much more excited about wedding planning now! Evelyn Chapel is a go! I just need to submit our application after I get Philip's signature this weekend and get the confirmation letter back probably sometime next week saying that we have September 22, 2012 as our date! I'm so happy and relieved that this has worked out.

New background! C'mon, Evelyn Chapel chaplain! I've been waiting since Tuesday night to hear back from her about booking the two timeslots so that we have more time for set-up and pictures. I honestly don't care what she says at this point--I just want to know! This whole thing has taken entirely too long! I recently bought a second pair of riding boots and I'm super excited about them. They're the same kind that I bought in the perfect brown color, except these are black. If you're looking for boots, these are at Target and are only $35. I'm quite pleased with them. Now I need some black jeggings, which I'll probably also buy from Target. The only thing I hate is paying for shipping and I don't really want to spend another $50 to get free shipping. I'm sure I could find enough stuff though to spend that much! I'm sure it'll happen!

I'm not sure why, but I'm overly excited for Christmas this year. Even before Halloween, I've been in the Christmas mood. I think this might be because I will really be able to enjoy it without the worry of an upcoming semester of grad school. I also get a lot of time off of work--from December 24 all the way until January 3. I'm so lucky. That's 10 days! I love the feel of Christmastime, too. I love going to the mall when it's busy, when it's all decked out in lights, red, and green, and when it smells like roasted sugared pecans. I love being cozy inside when it's cold outside. Can't wait! So... a new development with Evelyn Chapel. I had the brilliant idea of contacting the chaplain again to see if we can book two times (10:00 am-1:00 pm and 2:00 pm-5:00 pm) in order to have enough time to set up and take pictures before we have the ceremony at like 3:30. I offered to pay double, since that's how much it's going to cost if we have it at

*sigh* A person from the apartment company in Deer Creek called to say that they have an opening in the same area of townhomes that we were looking at a few months ago. I am sad and disappointed because we won't be moving there. Now that we're engaged, I need to be thinking about paying for a wedding and I can't justify spending $800+ on rent when I'm paying half that to live with my dad. I'm also worried about my car and making that drive every day. Philip's job at Proctor isn't super permanent in that if something came up in Bloomington, he'd want to take that instead. I'd be really annoyed living in Deer Creek and both of us driving to BN for work. I'm bummed and I know he is too, just because we would like to live together and see each other every day. The townhome is super cute and I would love to live there, but my responsible and financially-worried sides are just saying it wouldn't be the best choice right now. It was really har